Monroe
County Commissioner Murray Nelson, in his March 3 Keynoter "Personal
Perspective" guest column, used a rather broad brush to paint
several environmental groups as obstructionists.
Four hundred words aren't enough to correct all the misinformation
in his diatribe, but a couple points are worth making.
Once again for the record, we, Last Stand, are not opposed to
affordable housing. We support increasing the county's ratio of
affordable to market-rate building permit allocations. We have long
supported protecting the existing affordable housing stock, and have
opposed shortsighted policies that diminish it, such as allowing
widespread short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods.
The
comprehensive land-use plan calls for the county to "preserve,
conserve and enhance the existing housing stock," but as pointed out
in a recent newspaper article on mobile home park redevelopment,
little has been done to date. The county just now is contemplating a
temporary measure to slow down mobile home park conversions, after
many modest-income people have already been displaced. Too little,
too late.
Last Stand is not opposed to "everything," as claimed by
Commissioner Nelson, and we do not always disagree with local and
state governments. About as often as not, we have supported county
positions.
Remember offshore oil drilling, missile launching, communications
towers? Remember beefing up penalties for illegal clearing? Remember
the landmark Ambrose case, in which Last Stand intervened on the
side of Monroe County, and we won?
What
about when county planning staff positions differ from Planning
Commission or County Commission positions and we support one over
the other? Are we being obstructionists for participating in open
government? Are county staff obstructionists when they recommend
against a project, or are they just doing their job?
Last Stand is very much in agreement with the county (and the
governor and a growing list of officials with whom we don't always
agree) in opposing the Atlantic Civil development near Florida City,
for all the same reasons.
We're on Mr. Nelson's side on that one, but I must point out to him
that makes him an obstructionist, and we're proud to have him in our
camp.
We
will continue to agree with government officials when we think
they're acting responsibly, and disagree when we feel they are not.
I encourage any citizens who think that a little obstructionism can
be a good thing to join us. Visit our Web site at
http://www.Last-Stand.org,
or phone us at 296-3335.
Dennis Henize
President, Last Stand
Cudjoe Key
